Nubank, the largest digital bank in the world, raises $500 million with Berkshire Hathaway

Nubank, the world’s largest independent digital bank, announces today that it has raised US$ 500 million with Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest publicly-held companies in the world. The contribution is an extension of the G Series, carried out in January this year. 

The digital bank, recently recognized as one of the most influential companies in the world by TIME and one of the most innovative by CNBC, has consolidated itself as one of the most valuable financial institutions in Latin America.  

„The new round is the result of Nubank’s hyper-accelerated and sustainable growth. The company is the largest digital bank in the world in terms of number of customers — it has just reached the 40 million mark and, in these first five months of the year, it has grown at a pace of more than 45,000 new customers per day,” according to the press release.

With eight years just completed, the digital bank enters a new, more mature stage of development. The company has expanded its core credit card product offering to a complete digital banking platform with a vast portfolio that includes personal lending; investment products, whether in funds on the platform itself or on the platform of Easynvest, a digital brokerage firm acquired in 2020; life insurance, which in three months reached 100,000 contracts; products for micro entrepreneurs; and instant payment services — Nubank concentrates about a quarter of all Pix transfers in the country.

Furthermore, the company has strengthened its operations in Mexico and Colombia, countries that, together with Brazil, represent 60% of Latin America’s GDP and population. There are three economies that have the same characteristics in the financial sector: very high concentration of the market in the hands of few players, high fees charged from customers and low quality of service. 

„Created precisely with the mission to combat the complexities in the industry and empower people to take back control of their money, Nubank relies on fully digital services and high technology to reduce inefficiencies and offer free services and a humane and effective service to your customers. It is with these pillars that Nubank’s revolution in the financial sector is spreading across Latin America — and successfully: for example, today, in Mexico,” the company says, 

“It’s amazing to see everything we’ve been able to do in these eight years with the company. No one thought it was possible to change the financial system, but we were always convinced that there was room for disruption and innovation and, more importantly, that customers deserved better service. Nubank established a new paradigm in the market, which has forced all players to review their processes and products. And as I say: for us at Nubank, it’s still the first day. There is still a lot to be done”, says founder and CEO, David Vélez. “Around 50% of the population in Latin America still does not have a bank account. Credit card penetration is, on average, 21%, while in the United States this number is over 70%. This new funding will help us to keep democratizing access to financial services across the region.„

Growth and expansion

In line with the company’s plans, the investment raised will be used to support Nubank’s growth on three major development fronts. First, it will help to further expand the product offering, introducing new solutions to the portfolio, but also maintaining the accelerated growth rate in terms of market penetration, for example, in the investment sector. 

Nubank recently absorbed Easynvest, one of the leading digital investment platforms in Brazil, which has more than $5 billion in assets under custody and 1.6 million clients. With this step, the company intends to take the Nubank way of revolutionizing financial services even further and democratize access to investments. Today, out of a total population of 221 million Brazilians, only 3 million are actively investing,

The capital will also be directed towards the company’s international expansion. The digital bank launched its first product in Mexico just over a year ago and has already received 1.5 million applications and is one of the largest issuers of new credit cards in the country. On top of that, the company recently announced that it will invest US$ 135 million in the country to accelerate growth and expand the local operation. In Colombia, where Nubank landed about six months ago and has a product in beta phase, more than 300,000 Colombians have already signed up on the waiting list to become credit card customers.

In addition, the investment will help Nubank continue to attract global talent, such as the recent hires of Matt Swann, formerly of Amazon and Booking, as Chief Technology Officer and Arturo Nuñez, formerly of Apple and Nike, as Chief Technology Officer marketing (Chief Marketing Officer). In recent years, the company has attracted important international names for all hierarchical levels, especially for the top leadership. The digital bank has Renee Mauldin, who has worked for Google, Twitter and Uber, as People’s director; Yousseff Lahrech, an MIT engineer and former Capital One, is director of operations; and Jag Duggal, ex-Google and ex-Facebook, is Product Director.